Central Railway aims to have 482 coaches, while Western Railway will have 410; Indian Railways to prepare 20,000 coaches for the same

The converted coaches will be taken to places where treatment is needed

Eight places in Mumbai — Wadibunder, LTT Kurla, Matunga, Parel, Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus — have been identified to prepare rail coaches to serve as quarantine wards to treat Coronavirus patients. While 482 such coaches will be ready in the next two weeks on Central Railway, on Western Railway, a prototype at Bhavnagar is ready. The rail coaches will be taken to areas where treatment is needed. Sources said though the Western Railway has been given a target of converting 410 coaches, it has about 360 coaches presently that are over 15 years age, which will be used for the wards.

Coaches being preparedIndian Railways said it is prepared to modify 20,000 coaches into quarantine/isolation coaches to augment the quarantine facilities being created in the country.

These modified 20,000 coaches could accommodate upto 3.2 lakh beds. Work on the modification of 5,000 coaches, which are to be converted initially into quarantine/ isolation coaches, has already started. These 5,000 coaches will have the capacity to accommodate 80,000 beds. Each coach is expected to have 16 beds for isolation.

"We will try to complete work in next two weeks. In Mumbai, this work will be done at Matunga and Parel workshops, and Wadibunder and LTT depots. More than 50% coaches will be converted into isolation wards at Matunga and Parel. Work at Matunga workshop has already started," a railway source said.

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